In the history of theater there was a time when women were not allowed to appear on stage. Men in wigs and appropriate garb would play any female parts. Long after women (depending on the point of view) had risen to levels deserving the limelight or had sunk to the indignity of becoming actors, men in drag would remain a staple of the theater.

With “Parallel Lives,” presented by the Crescent Theatre Collective and now playing at the Shadowbox Theatre, actors C. Patrick Gendusa and Kevin R. Smith put a new spin on an old trick applying some gender bending to a series of comic sketches originally performed by a pair of comic actresses. The surprise is that what begins as a bit of a gimmick becomes a thoroughly satisfying evening of pure acting.

The show, written and originally performed by the team of Mo Gaffney and Kathy Najimy, is a contemporary revue comprising an assortment of sketches that are, at varying times, simply silly fun, sharply satiric, politically edgy or touchingly sweet. Most deal with issues that affect or are otherwise seen from a woman’s point of view.

The show had a successful Off-Broadway run, becoming something of a cult hit, which led its writing-acting duo to greater successes with a brief cable TV series.

So why do it with two men in the roles? Director Glenn Meche and his actors have taken the attitude of “Why not?” It’s the characters who are men or women and Meche trusts his players to be fine enough actors to be convincing. It’s a well-founded trust.

Gendusa and Smith are not going for laughs by simply playing men in drag. Nor, however, are they attempting to be full-fledged female impersonators, a la Varla Jean Merman. Instead, their focus is on creating their characters, female or male, ranging from the very realistic to caricatures that are broad indeed.

The tone of the show is set at the opening with a comical pair of angels (aren’t angels genderless?) present at Creation, assisting the powers that be in determining what to do with these newly created humans. Their rational but ultimately skewed arguments humorously affect everything from skin color and gender roles to childbirth and free will.

Continuing in that vein, one hilarious bit – which entails the two men playing men as played by women being played by men – simply answers the question, “What if men had periods?”

Some of the references and characterizations are dated, as many of the sketches developed over the course of Gaffney and Najimy’s act. However, the best pieces show an appeal that crosses time and situations.

The frat boy and Valley girl on a date sketch is, like, so ’80s but it still makes biting points about modern mating rituals among young people and sexual identity and politics. Gendusa is particularly funny here as the frat boy on the make.

There are thought-provoking moments scattered amid the laughs as the pair explore sexual stereotypes and gender politics but it never gets too screechy or heavy handed. Meche directs his actors well, keeping a light touch allowing the laughs to remain in the fore. He also allows Gendusa and Smith to go deeper and show genuine heart in several bits, as well.

Smith has a particularly elegant moment as the comic, beloved aunt who learns of her nephew’s sexual orientation. And Gendusa is pitch perfect, outdoing even Tammy Wynette as the country western bar patron who is “strong and attractive in a weak sort of way.”

As a couple in bed sharing pillow talk, arguing and then cuddling, the audience is unsure at first if Gendusa and Smith are playing a man and a woman, two men or two women. Ultimately it doesn’t matter. The scene is about two people in love facing issues that cross all lines of gender or orientation.

Note should be made of Lee Brickles’ wigs (none of which were harmed during the making of the production, the program points out) and Keith Launey’s sound. The music used between skits sets up each scene, with some clever choices eliciting their own laughs.

This production of “Parallel Lives” also has reconfigured the space of the Shadowbox Theatre, a onetime corner pharmacy, making it much more amenable to use as a theater space. The playing area and audience seating are more distinctively separated now, but the intimacy of the space remains, reminding one of the old True Brew Theatre’s space.

As spring weekends become filled with one festival after another, theater-goers will find an equally light, festive frame of mind with this charming diversion.